Speedometer-odometer spring aligner



March 13, 1934. T. L. LEE 1,950,617

SPEEDOMETER- ODOMETER SPRING ALIGNER Filed May 29, 1930 a .9 a; /z a 7 gram tor Patented Mar. ,13, 1934 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Thomas L. Lee, Rochester, N. lL, assignor to North East Appliance Corporation, Rochester, N. Y... a corporation off New York Application May 29, 193%, Serial No. 457,6)65

Z? Claims.

This invention relates to odometers, such, for examplaas are used in combination with magnetic speed registering instruments on vehicles.

The present invention is useful not only in the aforesaid combination but in any registering device whereby a series of wheels are actuated in sequence by transfer mechanism.

One primary object of the invention is to insure the correct relative position of the several wheels to the end that the figures thereon constituting digits of a number shall be in alignment. As a further object the invention aims to accomplish the above mentioned object while imposing but a minimum load on the driving mechanism. Other objects such as economy of manufacture, simplicity in construction and convenience in assembly will be apparent from the following description and the accompanying drawing.

In the drawing- Fig. l is a view in elevation of a portion of assembly, the several parts being shown in disassembled relation.

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section through the assembled instrument. I

Fig. 3 is a view in elevation and partly broken away as seen from line 3-3 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a perspective of the wheel aligning mechanism, the parts being separated and removed irom their common support.

Referring by reference characters to the drawing, numeral 5 is a cylindrical shell about which are rotatably mounted figure wheels shown by reference characters 7-12 inclusive. The shell is held in position by heads 13 and 15 which heads are fixed in position in any pre ferred manner. Heads 13 and 15 are centrally apertured as at 12' and 14, these openings being in alignment. These openings are to receive a supporting shaft not shown, and constituting no part of this invention. Wheel 7 which may be the fractional or decimal wheel, is the driven wheel for the series. It is driven in any preferred manner, the wheel being shown as provided with notches 16 which may engage any,

preferred form of clutch associated with the drive mechanism. This driving of the first wheel is not a part of the invention, and need not be further described.

Heads 13 and 15 carry a second shaft 1? which may be mounted eccentrically in said heads. This shaft 17 supports a series of transfer pinions 20-24, inclusive. These pinions eff feet the sequential rotation of the several figure wheels as is usual in odometer mechanism by (C11. 235ll3ll) means of teeth on the peripheral edges of the wheels in engagement with external teeth on the pinions. It will be understood that each pinion is being rotated by the wheel of the next lower denomination and that it, the pinion, go rotates the adjacent wheel of next higher denomination through an arc sufficient to expose to view the next higher digit upon complete rotation of the next lower denomination wheel. This transfer mechanism is well known gg and constitutes no part of the invention. It need not, therefore, be further described.

It will be seen that the transfer pinions project through an opening 26 in the wall of the shell to engage the teeth of the wheels which m surround the shell, this construction being shown in Fig. 2 and in Fig. 3.

Also, eccentrically carried by the heads 13 and 15 is a shaft or pin 25. This shaft supports a spring-actuated pawl 27 of spec al design and illustrated in perspective in Fig. 4. This pawl may be formed from a rectangular stamping with. a corner cut out as at 29. It also has a notch at a mid portion of the opposite side shown-at 31. lhe edges of the side having the notch are folded over to make elongated eye portions 32 on each side of the notch. These eye portions are received on the pin 25 as shown in Fig. 2. From the eye portions 'the stamping 27 extends tangentially and at its other side is formed. with a bend 33, the bend extending between the central shaft and the several transfer pinions as shown in Fig. 3. The edge 34 beyond the bend 33 is intended to engage the extremities of two adjacent teeth of each of the pinions as shown in Fig. 3. A spring 35 is coiled about pin 25 within the notch between the eyes of the pawl. The ends of the spring 37 and S9 engage the pawl and the inner wall of the shell. By this construction the pawl is resiliently pressed against the plurality of pinions, it being noticed that the cut-away portion of the pawl at 29 prevents spring pressure against pinion 20, the engagement of the pawl with pinion 20 being unnecessary. Since this one pawl engages the plurality of pinions, all these pinions will be held in alignment by resilient pressure.

Manufacturing processes require clearances between the teeth of the wheels and the teeth of the pinion, and also some bearing play. Since the respective positions of the adjacent wheels are determined by their engagement with the pinions, it will be seen that the clearances and the bearing play will allow a given wheel to move slightly in relation to its neighbor, and 11.

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individually. With that arrangement each aligning device made a correction only with relation to its neighbor. Slight discrepancies owing to the clearances mentioned might therefore be multiplied and satisfactory correction not accomplished. The error becomes large when several figure wheels are used. 'With my construction all the pinions subject to a single aligning device, are simultaneously influenced and the whole set of pinions are aligned. The only departure from digit alignment is that due to individual clearance between the teethofany one wheel and its pinion. My alignment device is therefore a marked improvement over the forms heretofore used, employing separate devices, one for each pinion, in that it insures a more accurate alignment of the figures on the several wheels. It does so as explained above by avoiding the accumulative effect of back lash or bearing play.

Odometer systems will stand only very light loads, especially when a movement of a large number of the wheels at one time is being made. As the pawl of my invention is in engagement with all the pinions except the first, when any of them turn it will be pushed away by the teeth of the second pinion, the moving load being borne by the second pinion, so that the others do not add an accumulative drag as in the case of individual spring pawls.

The novel construction whereby a single spring-actuated pawl engages the second and successive pinions therefore insures a much better alignment of figures on the figure wheels than heretofore when separate and independent spring pawls were used. It also avoids the accumulative drag which has been encountered heretofore when several of the figure Wheels were being moved. In the present case the second pawl assumes the load when it alone is acting or when it and others are operating together. The pawl also serves to assist all'the pinions to move into their new positions as it comes back from its extreme movement due to the force exerted by the spring.

It is alsopossible to cut away from the pawl other portions adjacent other pinions should it be desired to leave out the pawl action on any one or more of the several pinions, leaving those pinions to move and rotate their respective wheels unrestrained by the action of the pawl.

I claim:

1. In combination, a series of rotatably mounted indicating wheels, each of said wheels having a plurality of characters thereon, a plurality of transfer devices, each of said devices operatively connected to two adjacent wheels, a single rigidly anchored yieldingly operating member, said member normally contacting a plurality of said transfer devices to maintain the alignment of characters in the several relative positions of rotation of said wheels as influenced by said transfer devices.

2. In combination, a series of coaxial relatlvely rotatable wheels, said wheels having indicating characters thereon, a plurality of transfer pinions, each of said pinions operatively engaged with two adjacent wheels whereby the wheels are rotated in sequence and at intervals, a rigidly anchored unitary yielding means normally engaging a plurality of said transfer pinions to maintain the alignment of characters in the several relative positions of rotation of said wheels as influenced by said transfer devices.

3. In combination, a series of coaxial relatively rotatable wheels, said wheels having figures thereon, a plurality of transfer pinions, each having external teeth and positioned within the periphery of and between a pair of said wheels,

said wheels having internal teeth to engage said engagement with said wheels, unitary means 10:.

cated within said shell and normally and resiliently engaging a plurality of said pinions to maintain the correct alignment of characters in the several relative positions of rotation of said wheels under the influence of said transfer pinions.

5/ In combination, spaced end members, a shell positioned between and held by said end members, said shell having an opening therethrough, a plurality of figure wheels rotatably mounted upon said shell, a plurality of transfer pinions within said shell, one of said pinions being located between each two adjacent wheels, saidtransfer pinions extending through the opening in said shell into toothed engagement with said wheels, a single spring-actuated pawl within said shell and normally yieldingly engaging a plurality of said pinions to hold the same in alignment and maintain said figures in alignment in the several relative positions of rotation of said wheels under the influence of said pinions.

6. The invention defined by claim 5 together with a pawl-supporting shaft extending between said heads, said pawl having one edge provided with a notch and an eye on each side of said notch, said eyes receiving said pawl-supporting shaft, and a spring coiled about said shaft within said notch, theends of said spring engaging said pawl and the periphery of said shell to hold said pawl in contact with a plurality of pinions.

'7. In combination, a series of rotatably mounted indicating wheels having characters thereon, a plurality of transfer devices, each of said devices operatively connected to two adjacent wheels, whereby the first of said wheels when driven operates through said transfer devices to rotate the other wheels in sequence, a single fixedly anchored yielding operating member, normally contacting the second of said transfer devices and one or more of the other transfer devices to maintain the alignment of characters in the several positions of rotation of said wheels by said transfer devices.

' THOMAS L. LEE. 

